A divine perspective when nothing makes sense

Brothers, I invite you to go to the word of God. Now we are going to put on our sweatshirts and we are going to work on taking advantage of the word of the Lord, we are going to work in the spirit and we are going to study a little from the book of Habakkuk. It is a book that belongs to that category of minor prophets, not because its message is less important but because the amount of the book is small, there are 3 chapters, unlike Isaiah, which has 40-odd chapters, or Jeremiah, which are books. far greater in scope and magnitude. But the book of Habakkuk is a tiny book, easy to overlook, because in addition to that, being a book that does not have so many chapters, its subject is a subject that requires a little understanding of the context in which the book was written. . It is a very historical book, conditioned to a specific time in the history and life of the people of Judah.

That is not why it ceases to be valid for our time. As you know, God has prepared his word and put it in a historical container of men who were inspired by God and who were the reflection of their time and conditioned by the culture in which they lived and who spoke of the things that belonged to their time. and from his personal experiences, but God has used these experiences as a starting point for us to study and draw lessons that are eternal, valid for all time. And for this time in history, the book of Habakkuk speaks in a very profound, very eloquent way. That is why I say that Habakkuk is a book for our times.

And God has spoken clearly to me that this book… and sometimes that happens to me, that God kind of activates a passage of scripture or a book of scripture or a pattern of his movement in scripture, and he enlivens it within me and It kind of makes me see it in a different way. It's almost like unsealing a book. And God is unsealing many parts of his scripture in these last days that we live in, revealing other dimensions.

And it has revealed to me, I think, a way to apply this book. I believe that this book, although it was written thousands of years ago for a specific nation at a specific time, is also written for us, for the world, for the church in this 21st century and at this specific stage in the history of the United States. that we are living Because remember that I started this series a couple of weeks ago with a sermon based on the experience of Elisha and his servant and the Syrians, who you will remember came to the city where Elisha and his servant were to take him captive. Because Elisha, revealed by God, told the king of Israel where the Syrians came to ambush him. And the king of Syria sent an army to capture and neutralize the servant of God, Elisha.

And when that powerful army arrived and Elisha's servant saw that crowd around them, he panicked and began to complain that they were surrounded by an enemy army. And Elisha prayed that the Lord would open this man's eyes and he could see the true reality, or an alternate reality we could say, and it was the reality of God. and Elisha's servant could see that surrounding that enemy army was another more powerful army, full of chariots of fire, powerful angels that were there to protect the servant of God and his servant.

And you know that this story that began so negatively ended with a great victory for the people of God and a great humiliation for the Syrian people. Because? Because there was a man who could read the reality of the moment in a different way, with the eyes of God, with the divine perspective.

And I said that this is what we have to do in these times of great anguish in this nation and in the entire world, and specifically in this nation where right now we are living in times of great division in this country, great uncertainty, for the people. Immigrant is a time of great vicissitude, for people who are informed about what is happening internationally there is a lot of anxiety, a lot of uncertainty.

And like Elisha we also require God, or like Elisha's servant, we require God to open our spiritual eyes. And as Jesus Christ said, he who has eyes to see sees. That we can see history, see this moment through the eyes of God, and the immigrant, the undocumented, who perhaps feels that their life is about to end and that they are already going to come home and knock on the door and take him captive, so that he knows that God has not yet given the last word, as our brother Isaías said, that God still has many things to do and that God pities those who fear him. And that God can still give us a big surprise and we must never throw in the towel, we must never panic, we must never run from circumstances, we must never look only at the enemy but look at the God who is more powerful, the one who is in us is much more powerful than he who is in the world, says the word. Many more are with us than with them, as Elisha said.

Because we need God's perspective. These are times in history, still looking at politics, the man who is in the presidency right now, many people feel like how can God allow this? We have to see things through God's eyes. And what I want is to continue abounding in that theme, to adopt God's perspective. When God doesn't make sense. That is today's topic, when God does not make sense. When we see things and say, how is it possible that God works that way?

I started reading the book of Habakkuk a while ago and I have begun to see it through this time that we are living, and I believe that this book has a lot to teach us. The dialogue that occurs between Habakkuk and God, because this is a book of dialogues. Habakkuk says something to God and God answers him, Habakkuk answers God and he comes back and answers him. And finally Habakkuk acquires the total perspective of God.

This sermon is precisely what we do when God doesn't make sense. Next Sunday, if the Lord allows, I want to talk about how we should behave when we find ourselves in situations in which God seems to make no sense, when we find ourselves in difficult situations in our lives, when we are in situations like the one this nation is experiencing. and the whole world, what should be our behavior and what should be the attitudes that we exercise when God seems not to be working in a consistent way, or we do not understand what he is doing.

The times that we are living in the United States require a divine perspective, they require that we look through the eyes of God, that we remove the glasses of the immigrant, of the Hispanic, of the Republican, of the Democrat, of the liberal or the conservative, of the one who Those who have been here for a long time or those who have little time, of those who are concerned about social justice as a very important value, of those who perhaps do not have so much concern, that we take off our specific, personal, partisan, individual glasses and that we look with the divine, eternal eyes, as God sees history, as God sees the things of the world.

Many times we live experiences that do not seem to have anything to redeem them, nothing to take them out of the simply meaningless, but when we see through the eyes of God as Elisha saw, we see that not only is there a possibility of redemption but also there is a certainty, an abundance of blessings that God wants to bring through the situations we are experiencing. And so it is at this time in history.

Habakkuk develops this theme, how to see through the eyes of God. As the book begins the first chapter, the first few verses, we see that Habakkuk's outlook is a bleak outlook. Habakkuk is a just man, he loves God, he is a prophet of God. and Habakkuk complains before God because when he sees the condition of his people Judah, he sees anarchy, sees injustice, sees idolatry, sees oppression of the poor and Habakkuk wonders, Lord, where are you? How can you tolerate these things in the midst of your people? Are you asleep? What are you gonna do about it?

Habakkuk says in the second verse of chapter 1, “How long, O Lord, will I cry and you will not hear?” How many have ever felt like this? Three months, 4 months, an illness, a marital problem, a rebellious son, a time of unemployment, and you say, Lord, look, the water is already reaching my neck, do something. Why are you late? How can you tolerate this situation? I have served you, I have given, I have done all that I could. We've felt that way, and this is a book for those who feel hopeless and feel like God isn't moving the way He should.

“When will I cry out to you because of violence and you will not save? Judah is possessed by violent people, people who oppress others. Why do you make me see iniquity and make me see trouble? Destruction and violence are before me and lawsuits and contentions arise, whereby the law is weakened and the judgment does not proceed according to the truth."

This could be a description of the times we are living in. There is violence in the city. Chicago has experienced the highest number of violent crimes, homicide is on the rise, America's opium crisis, over 60,000 people are dying from overdoses alone in this nation at this time. There is violence, gangs are everywhere, there are many areas of crime, the truth seems to be in short supply. You read the newspapers and you wonder how it is possible that there are so many different interpretations of the political world. You read Fox and it tells you one thing, you read the New York Times and it tells you another. And it's like where is the truth?

You listen to politicians and you listen to lies many times, brothers. And one wonders where is the truth? And nowadays what people want is to tell me a lie that I can believe and tell me in a way that I can believe you. And this is a nation right now where truth is in short supply and I believe judgment, justice is in short supply in our time.

And Habakkuk says, Lord, I'm sick of seeing so much evil in my nation, your nation. Why don't you move? What are you doing? And God then answers Habakkuk, because when we ask God, he knows that God doesn't mind when we feel frustrated, frightened, and we come before him and say… Job also asked God, Lord, what is happening? I have done everything I can, I have behaved well and you do not respond. And God didn't bother with him. He spoke to her at the end and gave her God's perspective on her situation. God answers Habakkuk and here in verse 5 begins God's answer to Habakkuk:

“And God says to Habakkuk, “Look among the nations… what happens is that here there is no clear transition, but when one reads the book more and more one realizes that it is a dialogue between Habakkuk and God.

“Then God says to Habakkuk, “Look among the nations and see and be amazed – this is important because what is happening at this time in history is not just America. If you go to England, there is the same kind of uneasiness and uneasiness that there is here in this country. You go to France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, you go to the Netherlands, Australia, certainly the Middle East, Latin America, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, many things are happening in the world. There is a restlessness, a unease, terrorism, all these things.

And God says to him, “Look among the nations…because again, this book is not just like I say about America, but it teaches us how to interpret what is happening in the world and the complex move of God at this time. of history.

"Look among the nations and see and be amazed because I will do a work in your days that even when it is told you will not believe it."

Brothers, let us prepare for great things that are coming to earth. Judgments and movements of God are coming, very great and very strong for this nation and for the nations of the earth. And I don't say that to frighten anyone, because I believe that God's interventions can be dark for a while but later they are benevolent. God first spanks you and then gives you the Bengué to soften you. God many times does things to break nations, to bring them to humility and a recognition that he is Lord.

God used international judgment and persecution many times to bring Israel to the knowledge of God. So this is a book that invites us not only to see the situation of Judah specifically, but to see all the nations as well. Because God was moving on the international level.

And God invites Habakkuk, he says, I am going to do something that will surprise the whole world. listen to me, and this is a time of great surprises in this nation, how many were recently surprised by the victory of Donald Trump? It confused everyone. And don't worry, I'm not here to offer a commercial about Donald Trump. If he's not your favorite, don't worry, we're going to spank him before the sermon is over.

But God says, I am going to do something that when they see it they will not believe it. It is interesting, how many watched the election night and saw the confusion of all the journalists and all the experts in politics, sociology of this nation. It was worth my admission money for me just to see the confusion of the experts who didn't know what to do.

Again, I'm not talking… I'm not venturing to say one thing or the other, but there is a confusion. When we see the movements of God in history, God is assembling the pieces of a huge chessboard and whoever thinks they know God's strategy does not know God, because God is doing things that are going to surprise humanity.

And one of the things that we have to do in this time is to let go of the guide, let go of the steering wheel and let God be God. That is why I told them that when election time came I did not vote for Donald Trump or for Hilary Clinton, I voted for divine providence, a candidate who is neither a Democrat nor a Republican. Because I said, Lord, the truth is that in this case... I do not recommend that others do that, that was my personal ministerial conscience, I said, Lord, in this case I am going to yield to you and I am going to symbolically surrender to you It was up to you to decide, because I couldn't really identify with either of the two value systems, although I frankly tended to one side, but there were other things that I couldn't be in favor of.

But it's amazing what God sometimes does. And God tells Habakkuk, these are times, Habakkuk, that I am going to surprise the whole world, when they see things and tell them they will not believe them. And he says, "because now I raise a nation in the world."

At that time the great world power was Assyria and they were enemies of Israel and they had oppressed the Hebrews and had a reputation for being an oppressive people. And it would have been expected that if the judgment was to come and the discipline of Judah was to come, it would come from the powerful nation at that time which was Assyria and closest to the Jews. But God told him, no, it's not them. I am going to raise up a nation that is not yet in the papers, is just beginning to bid and rise up in its power, the Babylonians, the Chaldeans, Nebuchadnezzar, you know that nation.

And he says, and that nation is not like any other nation, it is a ruthless nation, it is a formidable and terrible nation. Look at verse 6:

“Behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, a cruel and hasty nation that walks the breadth of the earth to possess the dwelling places of others, formidable and terrible. From it comes its justice and its dignity. Their horses will be swifter than leopards and fiercer than night wolves."

It's as if God said, for example, Russia has been the traditional enemy of the United States, or the nation that the United States has most identified against for many years, the cold war and all these things. It's as God said now, and it's not that I'm saying that it's going to be like that, but for an example that God said, you know what? I am going to discipline this nation but it will not be the Russians, it will be the Chinese.

You know China is a thriving nation right now, with billions of people. To the Chinese, I think that many of them would feel that they are being done a favor to a certain extent if millions disappear, because it is an overpopulated nation, very powerful. But I am not saying that it is that, I am saying that China is a very powerful nation, thriving economically, technologically, it has great strength. And that God said, you know what? Don't worry about Putin, that's not him, Xi Jinping is the person you have to take care of. I'm not talking about bowling, that's his name.

And that nation is the nation to watch because that nation is going to rise up and bring discipline to America. I'm giving an example, that's all. But today we are used to normal schemes. And that's why, for example, today when Donbald Trump says, no, Russia is not our enemy, the whole world stands up, how can he say that? It's not true, you have to take care of them, and all that. what happens is that God may be doing strange things.

And then God tells Habakkuk, I am going to raise up a nation that is not yet in the newspapers, and it is a ruthless, terrible, cruel nation, it does not love itself at all. That is the Roberto Miranda version.

“And they will fly like eagles that hasten to devour, for all of it will come to the prey, it will mock kings and mock princes. He will laugh at every fortress, and he will raise an embankment and take it. – And here is something interesting, – Then it will pass like a hurricane and offend by attributing its strength to its god.”

Babylon was a terribly idolatrous and pagan nation, the mother of idolatry and horoscopes and occultism and all these things. In Revelation it appears again. And we see in several passages of scripture how militantly idolatrous the Babylonians were and attributed their power to their strength and their king and their military strategies. God says, that will be the people.

When Habakkuk hears this, he feels like God has given him much more than he asked for and than he can process, because he wanted a little judgment, discipline my people, Lord. But he tells him, I'm not only going to discipline him, I'm going to give him a piece of bread that they're going to roll on the floor and they're going to run out of breath. I am going to send you a heavy discipline.

And Habakkuk is scandalized upon hearing God's ruling. He says, Lord, how is it possible? I was asking you but not that much. Hold on a little, Father. And then Habakkuk responds to God in verse 12 and says:

“Aren't you from the beginning, O Jehovah my God, my holy one? We will not die. O Jehovah, you set it for judgment and you, oh rock, founded it to punish. Lord – it reminds me of Peter saying to the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord, don't let that happen to you, when the Lord says, they are going to crucify me and they are going to hand me over and all that. – and Habakkuk says to him, you are very clear of eyes to see evil and you cannot see the offense, why do you see the despisers and remain silent when the wicked destroys the more just than he and makes men like the fish of the sea, like reptiles that have someone to govern them.”

What Habakkuk is saying to God is, Lord, wait, let me help you. You were a little wrong. I want to correct. Many times men when God does something that they cannot understand because God has a much deeper, more comprehensive plan that violates reason, violates human and theological schemes, they respond as if they want to help God, they want to correct him, adjust a little of his theology.

That was what Peter did when the Lord told him, they are going to crucify me, the Son of man is going to be mocked, he is going to be flogged, he is going to be crucified, he is going to be put in a tomb, Peter is scandalized. No, Lord, do not allow such things to happen. And the Lord rebukes him and tells him... and he discerns the satanic spirit that is behind Peter's words, the Lord rebukes you, Satan, he tells him, because you only set your gaze on the things of men and not on the things of God.

Brethren, when a believer interprets history, personal experience through the schemes of reason and human precedent, he is violating one of the most powerful principles. We look with the mind of God. The man, the spiritual woman judges according to the spiritual mind, to the spirit of God, so says the word in Corinthians. We are supposed to judge with the eternal eyes, the eyes of scripture, the values of the Kingdom of God, not the values of man.

I believe that at this time in history, a good portion of the church is making mistakes and erring in how to interpret what is happening in this nation and in the world because they are interpreting through the interpretative lenses of culture, politics, the liberalism or conservatism, being Latino or Hispanic, being an immigrant or a non-immigrant, being brown or white or coming from the south or coming from the north, living in a city or living in the country, suburban or urban areas.

Instead of saying, I strip myself of my merely human, current political identity and choose to see with the eyes of God. Say amen, even if it's to cheer me up a little. I choose to see through the divine perspective. We should not say, oh, we are Hispanic and therefore if a Hispanic candidate emerges we are going to vote for him because he is Hispanic and… No, ask yourself, does he represent the values of the Kingdom of God? advances the interests of the church? Does it facilitate the move of God in history? If so, then you vote for him, but if you don't, even if it's his mom, tell him, I'm sorry, I love you very much but I'm not going to vote for you. Sincerely, because we are passionate.

I think the problem with so many evangelicals today is that they look at things through race, ethnicity, personal interests, instead of looking through divine eyes and what God is doing. I get fired many times seeing ignorance, excuse me, I know that I am giving some of you. I love you despite what I'm saying, believe me. But I see many people who compartmentalize and for one thing we are evangelicals and for another thing we are Hispanic or Latino or whatever, or we are conservative or whatever.

No, it is what I say, when I stand up here, brothers, I am not preaching as a Dominican, I am preaching as a servant of God that I have no nationality, I have no race, I have no education except words and values and what the Holy Spirit dictates. And so we have to govern, shepherd, teach, make ourselves neutral and transparent and let the spirit speak through us and be the word of God.

Get rid of your human identity when it comes to judging history and the situations that you are going through and see with the eyes of God and everything that advances the kingdom, say amen, get up and serve in that direction.

So, God tells him… what is going to happen Habakkuk is confused and says, Lord, how is it possible that you choose people who are more unjust than Judah to judge Judah? Don't let it, Father. And then God comes back and answers him. Do you know why he responds? Because Habakkuk says something in chapter 2 that is very important. Habakkuk within his great sense of frustration and scandal at what God tells him he is going to do and the means he is going to use to discipline Judah, Habakkuk has a moment of sobriety. I think it was, he took a bath of lukewarm water, ate, the monster again looked like a normal man, he prayed 3, 4, 5 times, he rebuked the devil several times and then he says something that is very important.

When we are going through difficult situations and we see God work in ways that we do not understand and cannot explain, this is what we have to do. Verse 1, chapter 2, says:

"I will be on my guard, and on the fortress I will establish my foot and watch to see what will be said to me."

In other words, Habakkuk kind of visualizes himself. He says, I am going to move to a very high place and I am going to be watching and I will be watching to see what revelation and what explanation God is going to give me.

Brothers, when we are going through difficult situations in our personal life, when God is doing things that we cannot understand, when everything seems dark and terrible, when it seems like God is being unfair in the way he is treating us or that he is asleep , before throwing in the towel, before saying, you know what? I am going to stop going to the León de Judá congregation, I am going to go to another church to see if things are better for me, I am going to stop tithing because I am seeing that things are not working out for me, I am going to stop praying so much and praising because total… before you do that, go and withdraw and seek an answer from God. Inquire of the Lord and tell him, Father, whatever you tell me, I am going to join it. I ask for revelation from you. Seek the face of the Lord.

The Apostle Paul says in Philippians, “Do not be anxious for anything, but let your requests be made known in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. And the God of peace that surpasses all understanding will keep your minds and hearts in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Seek divine perspective. Pray, cry out to the Lord, ask for an explanation, fight with the angel until God speaks to you and don't stop acclaiming the Lord and honor him with your… God doesn't mind if you come and say a couple of respectful and loving things, like a son talking to his dad Why do you allow this, dad? God likes it when we wrestle with him in a reverent way, in a mix like saying, Lord, I believe you are a speaking God, you make sense, you are a just God, why is this happening? Talk to me and reveal me.

Instead of launching out all at once to look for a solution elsewhere or advice from the newspaper or whatever, ask the Lord to give you wisdom. Search in the word of God, get into prayer, fast and seek the divine perspective, before locking yourself in your house and closing the curtain so that immigration does not catch you, fill yourself with strength, seek God's perspective and go out like a general in the name of the Lord, and live the life God has called you.

The servants of God do not cower. God is on his throne and he sets up and removes rulers, and he changes the laws if he has to. We are going to cry out to the Lord and we are going to seek perspective from God.

And Habakkuk says, I will be, I will be waiting to see what God has to answer regarding my complaint. How am I going to react? And the word of God, the divine revelation is not allowed to wait, verse 2 says:

“And Jehovah answered me and said, Habakkuk writes the vision, declares it on tablets, so that he who reads in it may run and even if the vision takes time – that is important, brothers, God's processes sometimes take time, there are many people who are saying, no, I'm going to fill all my credit cards because Christ is coming tomorrow and so I don't have to pay anything. Did you know? Don't go so fast. There is still time on this earth left for him. God is still setting his stage. There are still many things. I know that Christ is coming soon, but that soon has already been 2 thousand years.

Now, I know it can come and I think it will come closer than we thought. I live in the light of the coming of Christ, I tell you that sincerely. I think there is a rush. God is speeding things up like never before in history, but God is a God of processes and you have to go little by little, you have to let him… and even if the vision takes time, even if the answer takes time, wait for it to come.

You have been praying for that rebellious son for 10 years, pray for another year, don't throw in the towel. That wife, I am going to change identities because husbands always, that wife who does not want to convert, worship her, soften her in prayer, put her over a slow fire in the furnace of prayer, you will heap fiery embers on her head and when they are burning her hair is going to run and she is going to come to the throne of God and she is going to give herself up. Persists.

We have to be simmering Christians, Christians who stay until God answers our prayer. Let's not get rid of ourselves as a great Spanish scholar said, I think it was Cervantes if I'm not mistaken.

“Though the vision will take a while yet, it hastens towards the end, it will not lie. Even if it's late, wait for it because it will undoubtedly come and it won't be long.”

God tells him, I am going to speak to you and I assure you that this is going to come, it is going to happen. It actually took time for the Babylonians to come to power. There were decades still in the process but God said, wait for it because it will be like that. And then as God responds to Habakkuk he begins to elaborate on the wickedness of these people. He says, yes, they are bad. And he develops the entire malignant and sinful profile of that town that is coming. But notice something that also adds another part to it. So, verse 9 begins another part that God gives him, another payment that he gives to Habakkuk and tells him….

There are 5 woes, woe to the one, and those woes are directed at that nation that for a time is going to be used to bring justice and discipline and judgment to Judah. But God says, I am going to use it for a while and they are going to do what they do, be cruel, be oppressive, be imperialistic, but woe to those who act in a way that is not convenient to my heart and the values of my kingdom. Woe to those who simply own and oppress the poor and get rich and do injustice, because I have something prepared for them too.

He knows that one of the great themes of writing is this: do not envy the bad guy when he is in power. Don't be discouraged when you see injustice. Today there is so much injustice in this nation, corporations serve themselves with the big spoon of the poor, they manipulate the filth that exists in this world, corruption in all dimensions, not only moral but ethical, financial, governmental, political, judicial , corruption everywhere. And the Bible tells us not to envy because their time will come. Leave justice to the Lord.

If someone has done injustice in your life, don't poison yourself, don't let your heart be filled with hatred and resentment, give justice to the Lord and live peacefully because God judges and in the end God brings. Because what God tells him is something that is also a paradigm of scripture and that is that many times God uses an unjust person to execute his people. But then he judges and punishes that unjust man who judged his people because he did not do it with a right heart.

Many times throughout the Old Testament you will see that God used nations and used men like Nebuchadnezzar, like Darius, like Syrus, they were bloodthirsty people and he called them my servant, it was not because he approved of them but because they were doing God's work.

Do you know that God can use the devil himself to do his job? It has done. He used Satan to bring Christ to the cross. Satan was in there doing God's work because Christ had to die on the cross. And Satan himself tied his hands leading Christ, humanly speaking, to the cross. Because God used a lying spirit to lead Ahab into a war where he would lose his life.

God says, I will send a lying spirit that confuses him and leads him to do something crazy. That blows the brains out of any theologian. God sometimes uses shady means to carry out his work on earth. Remember that. it is very important. Because the fact that you recognize that someone is in power and that they are doing the work that God wants them to do, does not mean that you are saying, it is from God, it is good. God is pleased. But sometimes we believe that for us to accept something that is in power we have to approve it. No, it may simply be a shadowy and dark instrument of God to carry out his work. But later if he does not regenerate and does what God wants and does it correctly, God tells him, okay, now your time comes. Come here. Let's talk. I'm going to discipline you too so you don't do it again.

It's a mixture of complex things. And then God tells him, those verses that follow in chapter 2, are all verses that say, don't worry, Habakkuk, I'm going to use them but I'm going to execute them too. And in verse 19 he says:

"Woe to him who says to the stick wake up and to the dumb stone get up, he will be able to teach, behold, he is covered in gold and silver and there is no spirit within him."

The idolatrous, pagan Babylonians set up their gods, and God says, woe to them. Yes, I am going to use them, but woe to those who use these weapons, these instruments. And that chapter 2 of Habakkuk ends with verse 20 which I think is Habakkuk saying something, it is putting before the claims of the false gods and of the man imbued with his own human arrogance, to the sovereign God who is seated on his throne and who still rules history and rules nations.

What a beautiful verse, many of us have seen it in Pentecostal churches when we have gone, "but Jehovah is in his holy temple, let all the earth be silent before him." Hallelujah! say amen Talk in tongues for a while. Hallelujah!

Though heaven and earth pass away, the word of the Lord will not pass away. The times, history can fluctuate, a ruler can rise and take the world ahead, others can come who deny the lordship of Christ and the reality of God but all that is in the dust of history and the Lord continues sitting on his throne, exalted by his people. God rules over history.

Brethren, we have to keep our gaze on that almighty God who is seated on his throne so much that we do not have time to look at the little ones who come and go and go up and down and go through history simply for a moment and then they are no more. .

Look to your God, the God who sits on his throne. And that silence before him all the earth, means to be in a sense of so much amazement and so much awe by the greatness and the power and the sovereignty of God that we ran out of breath, we ran out of words.

That must be the meaning of the children of God. We are so absorbed with his lordship, his presence, his control, his majesty, his holiness, his justice that we do not have time to let ourselves fluctuate or be changed by the fluctuations of history and culture. And that is the wonderful thing, and that is what the Lord invites us to see what is happening in this nation in this way.

And this is my last point that I leave with you. We live in a time in the history of the United States and in the world when injustice, oppression, sinfulness seem to prevail and many of us, like Habakkuk, are inclined to think that God does not make sense. Why does God allow these things to happen? And God is inviting us to say, look, don't be so hasty, don't let the needle fluctuate from one side to the other because this is happening or that is happening, stay firm because I have a plan and I know where I go.

For many Christians with a progressive vision, a little more aware of social justice and all these things, to think that a man like Donald Trump is in power, how can this caveman be ruling this nation? Tweeting all the time and talking nonsense and tearing apart the dignity of the presidency of this nation, trampling on the principles of justice and equity. And it feels like Lord, how can you allow that? parent, light it up or delete it. Get him out of here soon. And they're praying for the Lord to strike him with lightning from heaven. They say, you can't allow that, Lord.

And for other Christians who are more conservative, more of another type of inclination, having thought 8 years of Barack Obama, Father, you are falling asleep, what is it? Justice fails, morality is faltering. Your church is being persecuted. Filthy values are prevailing and run by a ruler who is kind of dedicated to facilitating immorality in this nation.

Because I tell you something, brothers, and I give this to you for free, excuse me because these are things that are profound and 20-minute sermons are difficult for me many times because there are so many things that the word of God speaks to us. . But we have to be careful. Sometimes I hear people say, well, yes, but there is injustice, these people are also unfair. You talk about justice and you talk about the values of life and family, both one group and the other... I say, brothers, and this is what I believe, it became clearer to me this morning after having a cup of coffee , like my brain lit up a little more.

There are two types of injustice in the world for us to judge. There is a type of injustice that I call corruptive injustice, injustice that corrupts, injustice that threatens the very structures of the spirit in a nation, the moral and spiritual health of a nation, injustice that God considers an abomination, that offends the heart of God. , injustice that corrupts a society, injustice that cheapens its spirit and that weakens it, and that damages the structure of a nation.

There is a passage that says, how will they remain… the idea is that the columns, how will they remain if they are undermined, if the foundations are undermined. There is injustice that threatens the moral and spiritual foundations of a nation. There is a kind of injustice that persecutes the church, that makes life difficult for the church, that makes it difficult for the church to be the church, that persecutes the church, actively pursues the values of the Kingdom of God, that tries to muzzle the word that comes out of the mouth of the church and that it has as something bitter against the Gospel and the values of the Gospel.

That is a type of injustice, for me it is the most dangerous and most damaging injustice. There is another type of injustice that I call generic injustice, common injustice, which is the injustice that is a natural consequence of the fall. It is the injustice that has prevailed since the world began. No government is fair, no government is perfect. All governments are biased, all governments obey certain interests of a group that has put them in power. There is oppression, there is exploitation in the world since the world is the world because that is the nature of the world. And that generic, run-of-the-mill injustice will not go away until the rubble of the fall has been restored and Christ comes and establishes a new system in history.

And that injustice has any government. That is the fundamental basis of all other... of all human government. Some people say, this nation... what is this about this nation has been a Christian nation. There has always been injustice and this and that. TRUE. But when you compare what this nation is today to what it was 50 or 100 years ago, it was a nation known to have some fear of God. You did not hear immorality being legislated from the presidency. There was a healthy fear, there was at least an acceptance of certain values, fear of God. the family was praised, the presidents prayed and respected the church and respected Christianity and it was known that certain things were violated but were not legislated.

We have passed from the common, generic injustice of the fall, to the active, willful, arrogant injustice of the man who does not have the seal of God and the fear of God in his heart. That is different. And that is what I will always be at war with, against that kind of injustice, that kind of sin. And it is what we have in our time.

And many people have been correctly scandalized, Lord, how do you allow certain values to be praised from the White House itself: homosexual marriage, transgenderism, massive and destructive abortion, degeneration in all senses, under certain names of legality and social justice? And both one and the other, the progressives say, Lord, where are you? The conservatives, Lord, where are you? But in both places was God.

And God has been moving, doing his work in history. I have learned that we serve a mysterious God who moves and sometimes chooses one and places it for a while and then removes it and places another, and judges the one he used to do his thing, to advance his chips. It's like a chess player sacrificing a pawn to neutralize a queen or knight.

God sometimes moves that way and for a moment in history it would seem like God is not present, but no, he is a chess player who has been playing the game for billions of years and his board is infinite and he always knows and he calls 100 moves away, or a thousand or millions of moves away. And we have to keep quiet before him, like Habakkuk, keep quiet, look in amazement at his movements in history, say, Father, I'm going to keep quiet, like Mary I'm going to ruminate on the mystery. Mary looked at her son, she did not know what God had given her. It says that Maria kept things in her heart.

Christians have to keep things in our hearts at this time, like never before. Let's not despair, let's not throw in the towel, let's not complain too much, let's not get too divided, let's not eat ice cream too quickly, let's not judge according to our Hispanic or Latino or political values. Lord, give me the wisdom to look through your eyes, to see as you see, to feel as you feel.

Yes, Trump is in power. God put the Chaldeans to judge the Hebrews. God has put a Chaldean in the presidency. He is a Babylonian. God is doing extraordinary things in this nation. These haughty, intellectual, rationalistic people are being humiliated by a caveman who is ruling them right now. If Trump were smarter and more educated, perhaps you wouldn't do the things he's doing, many of which are good. It takes a coarse, clumsy and rough man. If I were a wise and tender and generous man, I couldn't deal with these demons that are in the 21st century culture of this nation today. Elijah is needed.

And I do not approve of many things, I bleed with my immigrant brothers who feel the pain of uncertainty, I bleed with the African-Americans who are being persecuted now by people, beasts who are using this as an excuse to put pressure on their racism in many parts of this nation. But I also think that some things are happening that were necessary. There are corrections that are being made that are important because this nation could not continue in the line it was going and there had to be a correction.

If Donald Trump learns soon and becomes a little civilized and learns to be a president and includes generosity, kindness, love, justice, in his political economy, God will bless him and affirm him. And let us not be found fighting against what God has put. Now, if not, if he uses his power to enrich himself, to enrich his friends around him, the big corporations that are exploiting this nation and corrupting our culture, if he uses that to unleash the beasts of racism and oppression and white superiority in this nation, God is going to execute him, brothers, because God is a God of justice and God loves the poor and defends the weak and those who have no voice.

He will use it for a while and prosecute it. And our place is to pray and cry out and wait and keep quiet and do everything we can, evangelize, be the people of God, do God's work on earth, rejoice in this almighty God that we have, who is in control of history. . My passport, brothers, is stamped and oversealed. Hallelujah! I have all the stamps that have been and will be, outside and inside the passport. I know where I'm going. I do not belong to the world and to history, I belong to the Kingdom of God and to eternity.

The Bible says that we have to despise our life until death. And I say, Lord, no matter what happens if you are doing your work I want to be where you are working, no matter what happens. If I have to eat empty bread, even if it is with a little olive oil, Lord, amen. Thy will be done. If I have to perish, brothers, if I have to leave my house because they are catching fire, God help us, at midnight, because something has happened and I am a victim of that more comprehensive divine process, so be it. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, no matter what it is.

Brethren, this is a time to live the life of a believer to the fullest. Either we are or we are not. Time went from playing to church, warm cloths. We are or we are not. These are the times of Elijah in which God says, decide what you are going to do, either serve Baal or serve Jehovah. Either you put the values of the Kingdom of God in your heart or don't come to church, don't say you're evangelical, don't say you're a Christian, or live like a Christian or shut the fuck up and watch TV and watch a TV show while eat some cereals, but do not contaminate the Kingdom of God with a spiritual mediocrity that is abhorrent before the Lord.

Because the word says that God will vomit out of his mouth the lukewarm. Look, it has to be hot or cold, lukewarm makes me nauseous, says the Lord. Brethren, this is a time for definition. The times we live in are times of urgency, times of definition and we have to give everything to the Lord, our finances, our marriage, our pleasures, our work, our aspirations, our dreams, our career, everything from the Lord if we live for him we live. If we die, for him we die. Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord and we are here to advance God's work.

Stand up and let's give glory and honor to the Lord this afternoon. Father, let your will be done on earth. Keep working, Lord, we want to see your glory established in the city and in the nations, Father. We want the name of Christ to be raised high on the rooftops of the city. May the glory of the Lord shine and may the haughty ones who deny the presence of God be reduced to dust, Father. Glorify yourself, Lord, and do everything work. It begins with us, Father, that we may offer you an acceptable sacrifice before you.

We place ourselves as a holocaust before the altar. We present ourselves before you as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to you, Lord. Help us take that medicine, Father, to the last drop. Your values, your word, your demands, your principles, your commandments, Lord, forgive us because we don't know what we say frankly, Father, but we want to be nice to you. Deal with us, Lord, we want to present to you a people that knows how to look at history, that knows how to move in history, that knows how to be the people of God. Change our eyes, Lord. Take away conventionalism, take away cheap, lukewarm and conventional Christianity and put in us a new system, Father, our foundation, new principles, Lord. May we despise our lives to death, Father.

Begin with me, Lord, as I pray this prayer. Change me, change us, purify us, heal us, cleanse us, restructure us, Lord. Prepare us for these times in which we have been called to live and we can truly be your church, Father, that we do not fail at the crucial moment in history, that we can be prepared as your instruments, Lord, that you can use for the redemption of your creation in this time of history, as true witnesses of Christ Jesus.

It begins in our homes, Lord, in our intimacy, in the secret of our mind and our feelings. We consecrate ourselves to you, Lord.